Mottled Cup Moth

Doratifera vulnerans

Cup moths are Australian insects that feed on eucalyptus foliage. Cup moths usually produce two generations of offspring per year. The adult moths are brownish in color and emerge from their rounded or cup-shaped cocoons in late winter or summer. They soon set to work mating and laying eggs, and the caterpillars hatch in spring and fall.
Mottled Cup Moth ♂ (Doratifera vulnerans) Also called spitfire caterpillar these can cause a nasty sting from those spines which are everted when the larva feels threatened. The twisted grey lateral shading indicates that changes are beginning and within the hour this one will form a hardened brown cup around itself in which it pupates. The cup is firmly attached to a eucalyptus stem and looks almost exactly like a gum nut... great camouflage. Another interesting feature of these caterpillars is that they have no legs and move around on a full-length 'foot' rather like a slug. About 25mm long. I know this is a male only because I grew it out to adult. Although these cups are a clever disguise the introduced European wasp decimates them. http://www.jungledragon.com/image/36664/mottled_cup_moth_doratifera_vulnerans.html Australia,Caterpillar,Doratifera vulnerans,Fall,Geotagged,Larva,Mottled Cup Moth,mimicry,moth week 2018

Appearance

Mottled Cup Moth caterpillars are pale brown in colour, the bright warning colours white, pink and yellow in the middle. They show their stinging hairs when disturbed. Mottled Cup Caterpillar is also known as Chinese Junk because of their shape and their way of moving like ship at sea..

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/cup-moth-information.htm
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_loopers/MottledCup.htm
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyLimacodidae
GenusDoratifera
SpeciesDoratifera vulnerans
Photographed in
Australia